1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention pertains to apparatus for the automated production of paint and other materials which are dispensed into a container, and with closure of the container, are mixed by agitating the container.
2. Description of the Related Art:
Many industrial products are produced by combining ingredients into a shipping or storage container, sealing the container and then mixing the contents thereof. For example, pulverulent or liquid products are readily amenable to such production techniques. In the paint industry, for example, a can, pail or other suitable container is filled with a paint base material. Thereafter, one or more tinting agents are injected or otherwise added to the base material. It is important that the ingredients of a paint formulation be thoroughly mixed to provide a uniform color value throughout the container contents.
Tinting of a paint base material may be performed at a local business establishment conveniently accessible to an end user, using materials and formulations provided by a paint manufacturer. The tinting agents are added to a paint base material, and the container is then sealed and inserted into a mixing apparatus which shakes or otherwise moves the container to mix the contents thereof. Such mixing may be performed, for example, by bench top units or floor mounted units, both of which are manually operated by store personnel who ensure that the container is adequately sealed and securely clamped within the mixing apparatus, and who set the desired amount of time for a mixing operation. At the end of the mixing cycle, the operator unclamps the container from the apparatus and presents the container to the end user, with no further operations being required in most cases.
Examples of manually operated mixing equipment are given in U.S. Letters Pat. No. 4,134,689 and U.S. Design Pat. No. 254,973. In these patents a floor mounted machine is provided for receiving a container to be mixed. An operator adjusts a motor-operated clamping mechanism to ensure an adequate clamping force is applied to the container. Next, the operator initiates a mixing cycle and thereafter unclamps and removes the container from the apparatus.
However, paint is also manufactured by tinting base material in a mass production facility. Such "factory formulations" are important, for example, when large quantities of a formulated paint are required, or when certain quality controls are required, especially for unusual paint formulations. Also, depending upon the distribution system and other factors, additional economies of production are possible only with large-scale factory operations.
U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 432,991, filed Nov. 6, 1989, the disclosure of which is incorporated in this application as if fully set forth herein, describes a commercial scale paint production facility in which paint is dispensed in batches to achieve various advantages, such as improved quality control over the paint formulation on an individual container basis, and for reduced waste of the paint materials which are used in the course of a production run. Further advantages are obtained in the production facility since the entire paint formulation operation can be fully automated. For example, the containers are provided with bar-code indicia which contain paint formulation and other information such as the size of the container and customer information associated with an order for the paint material. In order to preserve the economies of a fully automated paint production facility, an automated mixing of the containers at a rate consistent with commercial production operations, is required.